Unreleased webOS touchscreen handset leaks, leaving us to reminisce

Palm fanatics, get ready for some heart-wrenching news. An unreleased WebOS smartphone dubbed the "WindsorNot" and originally set to launch in 2012, has leaked online. It reveals a design modeled after the 9.7-inch TouchPad, bringing a full touch experience to what was an otherwise Qwerty-dominated smartphone platform.

According to WebOSNation, which got its hands on the information, the WindsorNot was to follow the Pre3. It was being developed by webOS senior vice-president Jon Rubinstein, but was ultimately canned because of limited resources at the dying Palm, a division of HP at the time. Since it didn't feature LTE, AT&T ultimately rejected the handset, and that's where the WindsorNot ended, except for the few prototypes floating around.

The WindsorNot features many of the same internals as the Pre3, with the same 1.4GHz Qualcomm processor, RAM manufactured by Micron, and 8GB of storage. The screen was a 4-inch 800x480 LCD screen, compared to the 3.65-inch screen on the Pre3. Ultimately, the folks at Palm wanted to take the sleek build of its TouchPad and bring it down to a phone, perhaps to target the iPhone 4 that launched around that time.

Of course, Palm's smartphone days are behind it. Palm is now owned by LG, which hopes to harness its power to smartTVs, so don't expect this ever to come to market.

The baby of the Lint team, Jake is responsible for covering the latest news out of the US. He began writing technology news at 15, covering the world of Apple for several publications. He has a deep interest in the latest gadgets and gizmos. Outside of breaking news, Jake enjoys drumming, music and photography.